Pervious Surface Durability

Once approved, a proposed new ASTM standard will aid concrete producers in developing sustainable and durable mixture proportions for pervious concrete.

The proposed new standard, WK23367, Test Method for Evaluating the Surface Durability Potential of a Pervious Concrete Mixture, is being developed by Subcommittee C09.49 on Pervious Concrete, part of ASTM International Committee C09 on Concrete and Concrete Aggregates.

“I am excited about this test because we’re taking a technology that’s already environmentally friendly and making it even more sustainable by developing more durable concrete mixtures,” says Matthew Offenberg, southeast U.S. technical services manager, W.R. Grace and Co., and secretary, C09.49. “WK23367 will give producers a tool to assess the impact of different raw materials on the potential durability of concrete.”

According to Offenberg, the impetus for developing the standard was to find a way to quantify how well a concrete mix would resist raveling, the most common failure mode for pervious concrete.

Offenberg says that all interested parties are invited to join in C09.49’s activities. “We are currently in round robin testing to develop the precision and bias for this standard,” says Offenberg. “The subcommittee has several other tests in development and always needs help from labs to participate in round robin testing.”